The technology committee will spend this year envisioning what 21st century learning "looks like" at FA
Independent school view: Pat Bassett, president of NAIS:
Many independent schools, of course, are already ahead of the curve in creating a vision for 21st century schools. I think, in particular, of those independent schools that are:
exploring transforming their approaches to education via technology (especially the laptop schools);
examining new strategies for allocation of time (such as block scheduling, the four-day class week, the twelve-month school);
integrating community service into the curriculum via service-learning programs;
experimenting with and adopting or modifying new educational philosophies (for example, the Reggio Emila approach to elementary education or "problem-based learning" at the middle-school and secondary-school levels);
adopting "performance" standards for learning (as done, for example, by schools in the Coalition of Essential Schools) and new curriculum structures for organizing the delivery of educational services (through "mapping" curriculum initiatives, for example, or through use of the "multiple intelligences" approach).
What should a school do in order to bring its pedagogy and curriculum to a higher level? Begin by constituting a task force and asking it to answer one question: "What skills and values will students need to be successful in future educational settings, as employees in the workplace, as family members, and as citizens?" The answers to that question will point schools in the direction, I believe, of more emphasis on — and more curricular programming for — different pedagogical approaches to problem-solving, ethical decision-making, accessing and discriminating knowledge via the new technologies, working effectively in teams, leadership development, communications skills (including public speaking), and conflict-resolution. Does this sound like one version of a vision for 21st century schools? What's your school's version of the vision?
Welcome to FA's Professional Deveopment Wiki
The technology committee will spend this year envisioning what 21st century learning "looks like" at FAIndependent school view: Pat Bassett, president of NAIS:
Many independent schools, of course, are already ahead of the curve in creating a vision for 21st century schools. I think, in particular, of those independent schools that are:- exploring transforming their approaches to education via technology (especially the laptop schools);
- examining new strategies for allocation of time (such as block scheduling, the four-day class week, the twelve-month school);
- integrating community service into the curriculum via service-learning programs;
- experimenting with and adopting or modifying new educational philosophies (for example, the Reggio Emila approach to elementary education or "problem-based learning" at the middle-school and secondary-school levels);
- adopting "performance" standards for learning (as done, for example, by schools in the Coalition of Essential Schools) and new curriculum structures for organizing the delivery of educational services (through "mapping" curriculum initiatives, for example, or through use of the "multiple intelligences" approach).
What should a school do in order to bring its pedagogy and curriculum to a higher level? Begin by constituting a task force and asking it to answer one question: "What skills and values will students need to be successful in future educational settings, as employees in the workplace, as family members, and as citizens?" The answers to that question will point schools in the direction, I believe, of more emphasis on — and more curricular programming for — different pedagogical approaches to problem-solving, ethical decision-making, accessing and discriminating knowledge via the new technologies, working effectively in teams, leadership development, communications skills (including public speaking), and conflict-resolution.Does this sound like one version of a vision for 21st century schools? What's your school's version of the vision?
Rigor Redefined, Tony Wagner
Link to survey
Project-based Learning
Rethinking Schools
21st Century Curriculum and Instruction
The 21st Century Teacher